In some storage devices, as part of normal operation, the device occasionally needs to perform internal activities for a period of time, such as garbage collection, defragmenting, updating metadata, etc. However, when a request to access data stored on a device is sent to the device while the device is performing internal activities, the access may sometimes take much longer than usual due to the competing internal activities. For example, a normal response by a device to a request for access may take less than a millisecond. But a response by the device to the request while the device is performing internal activities may take up to hundreds of milliseconds.